Devo - Rightly Reading God's Word
Rightly Reading God's Word
Psalm 119:18
God’s Word can be plainly and simply known by the context of what you are reading. This devotion is from the sixth and final message of the “Alone With God” series titled “Rightly Reading God’s Word.”
Our desire is for God to open our eyes to see the wonderful truths that are already in his Word. Notice the psalmist doesn’t ask for some wacky personal understanding of God’s Word. He says, “I know there are wonderful truths in there. I just need my eyes open so that I can see them, so that I can receive them, so that they can impact my life.” We don’t want to come up with our own truths.
You want to know what the writer of the letter is saying to you. What are they trying to get across to you? So, you get a grasp of the letter as a whole, and then you begin the letter, and you kind of get a flow, like “I see where they’re going.” And then when you get to the paragraph that’s important, you’re kind of zeroing in. And when you get to the sentence, you interpret the sentence by the general concept of the letter, the flow of it, and the paragraph the sentence is in.
In other words, just what Dictionary.com says. You use the words before and after to determine the meaning of that sentence. Right? That’s context.
Context is the number one rule for correct biblical interpretation. Bam! It’s out now. The Church knows the truth that context is the number one rule for correct biblical interpretation. If that’s true, then why do we only teach context to Bible teachers? Why is it that the Church doesn’t get taught the importance of context? Do you not need to know the number one rule for biblical interpretation in your daily devotion reading? You do, right? The Church needs this.
Often, not always, but often a good way to get kind of headed in the right direction contextually is to use a Bible that we call a “Dynamic Translation” because the Dynamic Translation Bible enables the translators to use (listen carefully) context to translate a particular sentence or paragraph.
You need to know that God’s Word, for the most part, can be plainly and simply known by reading it in context. And so, as we approach God’s Word in our daily devotions, as we meditate on it, don’t allow those verse numbers to stop your meditation. “Well, I’ll meditate on this verse.” Wait a minute, that’s not even a complete sentence. You have to look a little bit at what’s going on there, at least a paragraph. And it’s okay if you focus on one sentence but get the context from the paragraph.
And then, once you really feel like you have it, apply it to your life. And then, once you apply the actual truth of God’s Word to your life, you can choose to respond. And when you respond, the Holy Spirit will transform your life.
Our desire is for God to open our eyes to see the wonderful truths that are already in his Word. Notice the psalmist doesn’t ask for some wacky personal understanding of God’s Word. He says, “I know there are wonderful truths in there. I just need my eyes open so that I can see them, so that I can receive them, so that they can impact my life.” We don’t want to come up with our own truths.
You want to know what the writer of the letter is saying to you. What are they trying to get across to you? So, you get a grasp of the letter as a whole, and then you begin the letter, and you kind of get a flow, like “I see where they’re going.” And then when you get to the paragraph that’s important, you’re kind of zeroing in. And when you get to the sentence, you interpret the sentence by the general concept of the letter, the flow of it, and the paragraph the sentence is in.
In other words, just what Dictionary.com says. You use the words before and after to determine the meaning of that sentence. Right? That’s context.
Context is the number one rule for correct biblical interpretation. Bam! It’s out now. The Church knows the truth that context is the number one rule for correct biblical interpretation. If that’s true, then why do we only teach context to Bible teachers? Why is it that the Church doesn’t get taught the importance of context? Do you not need to know the number one rule for biblical interpretation in your daily devotion reading? You do, right? The Church needs this.
Often, not always, but often a good way to get kind of headed in the right direction contextually is to use a Bible that we call a “Dynamic Translation” because the Dynamic Translation Bible enables the translators to use (listen carefully) context to translate a particular sentence or paragraph.
You need to know that God’s Word, for the most part, can be plainly and simply known by reading it in context. And so, as we approach God’s Word in our daily devotions, as we meditate on it, don’t allow those verse numbers to stop your meditation. “Well, I’ll meditate on this verse.” Wait a minute, that’s not even a complete sentence. You have to look a little bit at what’s going on there, at least a paragraph. And it’s okay if you focus on one sentence but get the context from the paragraph.
And then, once you really feel like you have it, apply it to your life. And then, once you apply the actual truth of God’s Word to your life, you can choose to respond. And when you respond, the Holy Spirit will transform your life.